Election 2000

Presidential Material

With the presidential election just a year away, it's hard to
know which way is up when it comes to the candidates and education
issues. In the 1996 race for the White House, Democrats championed
national standards and more funding for education, while Republicans
wanted to test teachers and abolish the Department of Education. This
year they've switched roles, with the leading Republican contenders
supporting de facto national standards and more federal school spending
on schools. As for the Democrats, Al Gore wants to test teachers every
five years, and Bill Bradley is flirting with a typically conservative
solution to troubled public schools-vouchers. Confused? Here's what you
need to know about the men who would be president:

George W. Bush

What he's done for education: Abolished social promotion in Texas
public schools. Boosted teacher pay. Championed statewide early
literacy program. Expanded after-school programs for middle school
students in high-risk areas.

Views: Backs vouchers as a measure of last resort. Supports local
control of education reform, but state and federal testing of the
results.

As president, he promises to: Provide $1,500 private school vouchers
to students at failing Title I schools. Turn Head Start into an
early-childhood-education program run by the U.S. Department of
Education.

Sound bite: "Some say it is unfair to hold disadvantaged children to
rigorous standards. I say it is discrimination to require anything
less-the soft bigotry of low expectations."

Close to home: Husband of a former librarian and elementary school
teacher. Son of the self- proclaimed "education president." Sends his
twin daughters to public high school.

Malcolm S. "Steve" Forbes

High school: Brooks School (private), North

Andover, Massachusetts; class of 1966.

Occupation: Publisher, president, and CEO of Forbes Inc., and editor
in chief of Forbes magazine.

Views: Supports vouchers, increased home schooling, and posting the
Ten Commandments in public schools. Believes textbooks discussing
evolution are a "massive fraud." Recently called on black religious
leaders to start more faith-based schools.

Sound bite: "In our inner cities, why not have parental control of
the schools instead of the bureaucracies we have in too many districts
today? If you don't have parental control, you're never going to
fundamentally reform the schools in the inner cities."

Close to home: Father of five daughters, the youngest of whom
attends middle school. (Forbes campaign officials wouldn't reveal
whether it is public or private.)

John McCain

High school: Episcopal High (private), Alexandria, Virginia; class
of 1954.

Occupation: U.S. senator from Arizona.

What he's done for education: Required software filters in federally
funded education technology programs to keep out Internet pornography.
Sponsored the "Troops to Teachers" program to expand efforts to help
military personnel become teachers. Voted for $150 million
dropout-prevention program in 1998. Introduced legislation to use more
than $5 billion in government subsidies to pay for $2,000 private
school vouchers.

Views: Supports vouchers. Endorses bilingualism, saying, "No one
should have to abandon the language of their birth to learn the
language of their future."

Sound bite: "There's no reason on earth that a good teacher should
be paid less than a bad senator."

Close to home: McCain often laments that he didn't study hard enough
in school and finished fifth from the bottom in his Naval Academy
graduating class. He has seven children, ages 8 to 39; the youngest
four attend private school in Phoenix.

Bill Bradley

High school: Crystal City High (public), Crystal City, Missouri;
class of 1961.

Occupation: Full-time presidential candidate. Former three-term U.S.
senator from New Jersey and professional basketball player.

What he's done for education: Helped create the Javits federal
program to support gifted and talented education, as well as programs
to support science and technology education for minorities.

Views: Supports national standards, professional development for
teachers. Backed experimental school choice plan while in the Senate
but recently opposed Republican George W. Bush's plan for federal
vouchers.

As president, he promises to: Spend $2.6 billion a year to provide
child care and early education for working families. Hold teachers
accountable for student performance.

Sound bite: "[In the 21st century,] we're not just going to have to
have education K-12. We're going to have to have lifetime education,
and we're going to have to have the institutions in place so that all
Americans will be able to take advantage of that."

Close to home: Son of an elementary school teacher. Father of one
college-age daughter.

Albert Gore Jr.

High school: St. Albans, the National Cathedral School for Boys
(private), Washington, D.C.; class of 1965.

Occupation: Two-term vice president of the United States. Former
U.S. senator from Tennessee.

What he's done for education: Spearheaded move to get $2 billion in
federal "E-rate" discounts on Internet costs for schools and
libraries.

Views: Supports testing teachers every five years in a
recertification process. "No teaching license should be a lifetime job
guarantee," he once said.

As president, he promises to: Offer universal preschool for all 3-
and 4-year-olds. Fundamentally change the American high school by
making schools and classes smaller. Improve teacher quality by
encouraging merit-pay schemes and mentors for new teachers. Turn around
failing schools by expanding summer school and reducing Hispanic
dropout rates. Adopt a national school focus on discipline, character,
values, safety, and parental involvement.

Sound bite: "I believe teachers should be treated like
professionals-I want to improve teacher quality and lift up America's
teachers."

Close to home: Father of four children, the youngest of whom attends
private high school.

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